Pilots commonly keep a clipboard or notepad in a readily-accessible location, such as strapped to a pilot's knee or mounted to a yoke of an aircraft. During the course of a flight, a pilot may utilize the notepad to jot down important bits of information including navigational clearances or commands issued by Air Traffic Control (ATC). Such navigational commands often contain relatively long sequences of alphanumeric characters, which can be difficult to remember if not written down. After receiving and writing down an ATC-issued command, the pilot may then verbally repeat the command to the ATC to ensure that the command was accurately transcribed on the notepad. Additionally, the pilot may query the ATC or independently research any portions of the navigational command that appear questionable or unfamiliar to the pilot. After the pilot is satisfied that the details or “data elements” of the navigational command are correct, the pilot may manually enter the command elements into the appropriate flight deck system. For example, in the case of a hold pattern command, the pilot may manually program the command elements into the Flight Management System (FMS) utilizing a designated interface, such as an alphanumeric keypad provided on a Multi-Purpose Control Display Unit (MCDU). Afterwards, the pilot may review the MCDU display screen to ensure accurate entry of the command elements and then utilize the MCDU keypad to execute the navigational command.
The above-described manual transcription process (i.e., the process of writing the details of an ATC-issued navigational commands onto a notepad, verbally repeating the navigational command to the ATC to ensure the command was accurately transcribed, and then further referencing the notepad when programming a flight deck system) is intuitive and simplistic. However, by its nature, such practice is also cumbersome, time consuming, and largely antiquated. Not only does the practice of manually transcribing navigational commands onto a notepad increase pilot “heads-down” time, it also presents multiple opportunities for the introduction of human error and undue confusion in the programming of the flight deck systems. As a still further drawback, the above-described process can significantly increase pilot workload by requiring a pilot to engage in additional, potentially tedious tasks to resolve any portions of a navigational command that may appear questionable or unfamiliar to the pilot.
It is thus desirable to provide electronic devices facilitating the entry of handwritten pilot data into flight deck systems, which overcome one or more of the foregoing drawbacks associated with conventional notepad-based transcription practices. Ideally, such devices would reduce pilot workload, provide additional safeguards ensuring the accurate entry of navigational commands into flight deck systems, and/or offer other enhanced functionalities not currently provided by notepad-based transcription practices. It would further be desirable to provide program products and methods also providing such benefits or otherwise supporting the operation of such devices. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent Detailed Description and the appended Claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying Drawings and the foregoing Background.